Kailway or teamway eail joint



june 28', 1927.,

- E. A. BYRDE RAILWAY OR TRAMWAY RAIL JOINT Filed dan. 7, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet l fava/Mam 1 27o l 6&3 977 um 2 9 Q E. A. BYRDE p y RAILWAY -OR TRAMWAY RAIL JOINT Filed Jan. '7, 1925 ,2 Sheets$heet 2 Patented June 28, 1927..

EDWIN AUGUSTUS BYE/DE, OF NAGEUR, CENTRAL INDIA.

RAILWAY 0R TRAMWAY RAIL JOINT.

Application filed January 7, 1925, Serial No. 963, and in British India October 14, 1924.

This invention has reference to improvements in rail butt joints to allow for eXpansion and contraction to minimize the action of creep, and to secure greater smoothness 1n travelling.

It is characterized in that the ends of the rails are supported on a sole or bottom plate, preferably strengthened by ribs, said plate acting as a girder and being itself secured by bolts at its ends to top plates resting on the foot of the rail. The top plates are adapted to keep both rails in true alignment by direct contact with the web of the rail when the bolts used therewith are tightened. These top plates are held in position by projections from the bottom plate. Expansion and contraction may be provided for in the bolt holes through the foot of the rail,

I am aware that it hasheretofore been proposed to rest theentls of the rail on bearing` plates supported on sleepers. I am also aware that the common forms of unsupported joints depend on the rigid contact between the head and foot of the rail formed by iish plates bolted together through the web of the rail. My invention on the other hand constitutes aniimprovement in that the two ends of the rails rest on a flat surface keeping them truly level and the tendency to .wearthat occurs in the contact surfaces of rails and fish plates is entirely eliminated.

It also may give greater supporting strength at the point where most strength is required i. e. at the junction point of the rails. The

" device gives, moreover, increased resistance to horizontal bending action at the joint, -whilst allowing for freer expansion and contraction as the bolts are not required to be tightened to more than the extent usual for fish bolts of ordinary ish-plated rail joints.

The invention consists of means for joining railway or like rails comprising a bottom plate upon which the ends of the rails to be joined rest and over which said rail ends butt together, and two upper platesadapted to be bolted down to thevsaid bottom plate and to engage the webs or the two rail ends and/or the upper part of the bottom flange or lower heads of the rails and also to contact upon or against suitable projections or supporting surfaces on the said bottom plate.

The invention not only embraces the joint but also the component parts therefor.

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which like numbers of reference indicate like parts throughout, and in which Figure l is part elevation and part longitudinal section of one convenient form the jonit may take when applied to flatfooted rai s. f

Figure 2 shows on the right a half cross section on line AA of Figure l and on the left a half cross section on line BB of F igure 1.

Figures 3 and 4 are corresponding views of a convenient form the joint may take when applied to bull-headed rails.

Referring to Figures l 'and 2 the rails to be joined have heads 1, webs 2 and flanges 3.

The two rail ends rest upon the bottom plate 4 and are butted together thereon. The bottom plate 4, in the example illustrated, has three downwardly extending ribs 5, 5, which preferably will be of maximum depth at 5 at the centre of the joint, tapering away towards the extreme ends 5b. The bottom plates are provided with upwardly extending longitudinal ribs 6, 6 along each upper outer edge.

Two upper plates 7, 7 are used. The outer edges 7a, 7 of these upper plates make contact with the ribs 6, 6, and the inner edges 7b, 7", press against the webs 2 of the rail ends to be joined.

Bolts 8, 8, preferably four in number, one at each end of each upper plate 7, are adapted to bolt the parts together. On tightening' these bolts the corners 7c, 7c, of the upper plates are forced against the ribs 6, 6, and the inner edges 7", 7b, preferably turning about these corners, or some surface adjacent thereto, hold the webs of the two rail ends in proper alignment. At the same time the bottom surfaces 7d, 7d of the upper plates press upon the upper' surfaces of the rail foot 3 and hold the parts firmly down onto the bottom plate 4. A lspace 9 is left between each upper plate and the foot or flange of the rail and it will be seen that these upper plates act as arches.

The .holes 10 in the iianges of the rails or in the parts 4, 7, 7 may be slotted or made larger than the bolts 8, 8 to allow for the expansion and contraction of the rails.

In the embodiment illustrated in Figures uit) 3 and 4 the construction is in most r'espects similar to that described with reference to Figures l and 2, but modified to suit a bullheaded rail.l

The lower head 3' of this rail may be depressed and rest in a depression 4d in the bottom plate 4.

The upwardly projecting longitudinal ribs or projections 5, 6, along the edges of the bottom plate 4 may have inclined supporting surfaces 6"?, 6a, adapted to each present a sort of: skew-back for supporting the outer edges of the upper plate 7', 7.

The thrust of the arching action produced in these plates may thus be more efficiently transmit-ted into the ribs G, 6.

In Figure 4 it will be seen that instead of the surf-aces 7d which press the foot of the rail down upon vthe bottom plate 4 being towards the outside as shown in Figure Zthese contact surfaces may be on the inner side at IC 7C.

The bevel or incline 6a is an important feature as with its assistance a wedging action may be developed which assists in taking up any slack. For example, owing to the fact that a certain rolling margin must be allowed due to the wear of' the rolls in manufacturing the rails the dimensions of the parts are not exact and the incline G allows of the necessary accommodation of the 'parts to each other.

It will be noted that the downwardly projecting ribs, 5, 5, particularly where they are deepest at 5 the centre of the joint taken in conjunction with the upwardly extending ribs 6,y 6 increase the vertical depth of' theA bottom plate 4 and ada very considerably to its strength and stiffness in the vertical d1- rection.

'enormously to the lateral stiffness ofy the joint, making the joint far stronger laterally than is usual.

The ribs 5, 5 also provide depressions or grooves into which the heads of the bolts 8 fit, thus preventing the bolts turning when the nuts arejbeing screwed on.

It will beunderstood that the invention is not restricted to the exact embodiment shown, but includes within its scope reasonable modilications. For example, the rib`6lis preferably continuous, but may have knobs thereon to afford a better or larger supporting surface for the outer edges ofthe plates 7, 7. The shape and dimensions of the parts may be considerably altered, if desired.

The essential feature is to provide a rail joint in which the ends ofthe rails are supported and rest directlyon a plate secured at its ends to the rails themselves by being bolted to top plates resting on the foot of the rail. In this joint the top plates are adapted to keep both rails in true alignment by direct contact mainly with the web of the rail when the bolts used therewith` are tightened, and these top plates are held in position by projections from the bottom plate. The Whole forms a rigidA joint keepingboth rails truly level andtruly aligned, without offering undue resistance to expansion and contraction. The joint is capable of withstanding the load of fast running trains with the minimum of shock, and is adapted to give maximum life to the wearing parts themselves.

The rail joint as above described is one which can function to reduce the tendency of the rai-ls to creep. This creeping movement cannot develop to any marked extent before one end ot the bottom plate `butts up against the side edge of a sleeper, and this added resistance is very effective in resisting further movement. v

rllhe joint arrangement is one having considerable solidity and may be so constructed that it will function to render the-closerspacing of sleepers at the joints unnecessary: A saving of 4% in the ytotal number of sleepers used may thus be effected.

Having now particularly-described and ascertained the nature of my said invention and in what manner the sameisto be performed, l declare that what I claim iscl. A structure for joining railway rails, comprising an upper arch plate bolted to a lower girder plate over the flange of the railends, the inner edge'of said upper plate having for 'its skew-back the web ofthe rail, and the outer edge of said upper plate having for its skew-back, an upward extension of the bottom plate and also alternatively contactin-gupon the rail flange, in such a fashion that when the plate is set up upon, archi action will ensuel between the upper plate, the rail, and the bottom plate, to such an extent that the rail-ends will be held more firmlyin alignment and will be held more vfirmly upon the bottom plate.

2. A structure forjoining railway rails, comprising an upper arch plate bolted to a lower girder plate over the flange of the rail ends, the inner edge of said upper plate having for its skew-back the webof Ithe rail and also alternatively contacting upon the rail flange, andthe outer edge ofthe upperplate having for its skew-baclran upward extension of said bottomA plate.

3. A structure as in claim l, wherein two upper plates, when bolted down in position uponl the rail-ends have their outer edges forced into intimate contact with raised outer supporting surfaces formed by the upward extension of the 4bottom plate to such a degree that the inner edges of said upper plates press firmly vupon the webs of thetwo rail-ends to hold said ends in alignment.

4. A structure as in claim l-wherein two apper plates when bolted in position upon from beneath the lower surfaces of the railthe rail-ends have at least one of their ends ends and the rail-ends are held in alignment pressed downwardly upon said rail-ends to a by pressure applied by said support on the l0 degree sufficient to hold them rigidly in conlower ends of the webs. 5 tact with said bottom plate. In testimony whereof I hereto affix my sig- 5. A combination as claimed in claim l, nature, this second day of December 1924. whereby the rail-ends are rigidly supported EDWIN AUGUSTUS BYRDE. 

